Loose Tooth

Erin has had a loose tooth for at least 11 days now, but she won't pull it out. This morning I noticed that her teeth looked dirty even though she had already brushed them. I took her into the bathroom so I could clean them. Turns out she doesn't brush the teeth around the loose one in fear that she might accidentally bump it and then it might fall out. I am trying to figure out why she won't just pull the darn thing out. Maybe it has to do with getting braces. The ortho won't put braces on her until she has lost her baby teeth. She doesn't want braces and so she is trying to hang on to them as long as possible. (Unfortunately for her, I am sure they will all fall out before she is 18 and leaves home.)

A couple weeks ago she had a loose one that was bleeding but she refused to pull it out. In the church bathroom, when she wasn't expecting it, I flicked it and it fell right out. Is it any wonder my kids don't trust me?!

So my question is, do I force her to let me take this one out? I don't want the teeth around it to suffer. Or do I let her try to hold on to this baby tooth until she is out of the house and married and she won't have to get braces. Option #2 would be the cheapest for Mario and I. It is such a toss up. What should we do?

This whole incident reminds me of taking Erin to get shots several months ago. Maybe I already blogged about it, I am not sure. But I took her in and she refused to get a mandatory shot (not something like the flu shot). She was wearing a hoodie and so I had to wrestle with her (in front of the nurse) to get her hoodie off. She was kicking and screaming and not letting the nurse give her the shot. I wasn't strong enough to hold her down. Finally the nurse called for back up and another nurse came in to help me hold her down. I was so embarrassed for Erin. I wish Eric would have pulled out the cell phone to get video of the whole thing. I think he thought of it but was afraid I would yell at him if he did.

I told Erin that Mario will have to take her for all her upcoming shots. Erin has zero tolerance for pain. The drs will have to knock her out for childbirth. I already told her that I won't be there in the room.

Update: Erin came home wearing a strange shirt today. She said her shirt had blood all over it. She was playing a game at recess and a boy accidentally elbowed her in the mouth today knocking that loose tooth out. I should go pay that boy a couple bucks tomorrow. He saved me a lot of trouble.

Rubix Cube

Eric has been begging for a Rubix cube for the last month. I didn't even know that they were popular again. Well, the wait finally ended today. I was nervous when he started messing up the cube. I said, "That will be the last time you see it in that perfect state." He was pretty discouraged when he started trying to solve it. He thought it would be easier. I told him when I was a kid, I would change the stickers:) But now for 99 cents you can buy an ipod app that will solve it for you. So in 20 moves, his Rubix cube was back to being perfect. I wish they had those around when I was a kid. I am excited to see my kids enjoy the classic games. I saw this funny poll:

When someone gives you a rubix cube to solve, you reach for..

a. a stopwatch

b. a screwdriver

c. a garbage disposal

d. an emergency exit

Trial Run

This week is our trial run for Mario's deployment because he is in Dominican Republic for 5 days. I failed miserably on Monday. I got upset with Erin for eating dessert without eating her dinner. Then as I was cleaning up from dinner, Zachary started whining about working the DVD player upstairs. I lost my temper.

But I assessed the situation and determined how I could do better with the nighttime routine . That is when I usually get upset the most with the kids. I always tell them I am off duty at 6 pm. Well that works well with Mario home, but not so well when he is not. So I guess I am going to have to stay on duty until at least 8 pm when Erin goes to bed. Eric is pretty much a non-issue. He just does his thing and stays out of trouble.

Last night went much smoother. I made dinner and had the kids clean up. Then we called Mario and had scripture study and prayer with him on speaker phone. Then I read Nate and Zach a couple stories before putting them to bed in their favorite spots-Zach in my bed, Nate in Erin's bed. I took Eric to YM and Erin and I watched a sappy love story.

I am hoping tonight will go as smoothly even though we will get home a little late from karate.

Gratitude Lists

Zach gave our FHE lesson last night. He chose a story from the Friend magazine about showing gratitude. Then he had us make our own gratitude lists. Zach very much likes to be in charge. I can imagine him being a CEO one day. I asked him if he wants to be the boss where he works when he grows up. He asked me if the veterinarian is the boss at the clinic. I assured him that he would be the boss if he had his own clinic. He was very bossy about who read what last night and how much they read and what order we read in. I had to laugh. He likes power.

Anyway, here is Nathan's gratitude list. I think he worked the hardest on his. The other kids' papers were scribbled on or torn up so I couldn't scan them. And in case you are wondering, I did list the military as something I am grateful for. I am grateful that Mario has a good job and that we are blessed to live in this free country.

Deployment Part 3

Well, I may as well delete that last post about Mario's new calling as YM President. He will no longer be around to serve in that calling. He came home last night and sat me down to tell me he has been non-volunteered into a deployment to Kabul, Afghanistan working with NATO. He would leave in late February. I must admit, I cried pretty hard for about an hour. But after the initial shock I calmed down a bit and now I only cry occasionally when I think about it.

In the 11.5 years he has been in the military, he has never deployed. He hasn't avoided deployments but has never been in the position to deploy. We were in Guam when the terrorists attacks happened. He was in the process of getting his first Masters and so his commander didn't deploy him. In Hawaii, he taught ROTC so he was not deployable for those 3 years. In Illinois, a deployment came up to Cuba and he asked for it but was turned down because it wasn't for his unit. He was finally tasked with one to Africa but he was accepted into a Masters program in Monterey, so he couldn't go on that one either.

We knew that his turn was coming up and now it is here. I admit, I would rather him go to Latin America but I guess this is where the Lord wants him to go. He prayed about a deployment to Ecuador and didn't feel that it was the Lord's will to volunteer for it. After being told that he would get this Afghanistan deployment, Mario said he felt comfortable with this one. He assures me that he will live and work in a large protected compound. It is comforting to me that we can talk almost everyday and also email and Skype. That should make this so much easier.

I don't know how much sleep I will get between now and late August when he returns. I hope that I can have more faith that he will be safe and the kids and I will survive without him for 6 months. I am also comforted that we have been sealed in the Temple. Mario assures me that his work on this earth isn't done and he will be fine. I pray he is right.

New Calling

Last night we got a visit from the entire Bishopric. To make a long story short, Mario will be the new YM President in our ward. Now I get to practice a lot of patience and sacrifice. Two things I am not good at, but I will have to learn.

I am excited for Mario and I think he will do an great job. He knows first hand what a difference good YM leaders can do for a boy's future. I am so thankful for YM leaders and great Bishops that Mario had when he was a youth, because I know if it weren't for them, Mario would probably have never served a mission and we wouldn't be married now.

I have to laugh because Mario's current calling is Teacher's Quorum advisor. He recently saw some needs in Scouting and started aggressively attacking some issues. I told him that I thought he may be a little too assertive (the military officer in him was coming out) and may step on some toes of the leaders in YM. Well, I guess he doesn't have to worry about that anymore. I feel for his counselors when Mario shows up to meetings with his long "to do lists." There's work to be done and a lot of weight on Mario's shoulders.

Flu

Looks like the Perez household may be hit by the flu. Eric is down with a wheezing cough, headache, and very tired. Mario has been complaining that he is having a hard time recovering from Fast Sunday. Every once in a while I feel a little stomach ache. I am wondering if we are all getting sick....

I shouldn't have been quick to brag that our family has been so healthy (except Eric's migraines) since moving to Arizona.

Update....Turns out that Eric just had a cold and the rest of us stayed well. At least for now.